The Department of Interior
is playing a key role in a science-based, community-level campaign
to protect coral reefs and is working with a variety of state,
territorial and international partners to increase understanding
of the problems plaguing these sensitive ecosystems around the
globe, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Craig
Manson said today.

This week in Miami, scientists and coral reef managers from the
department will join their counterparts from Florida, Puerto
Rico, Hawaii and six Pacific island jurisdictions to discuss
the health of U.S. coral reefs and efforts to save them.

“Interior Department agencies are leading the way in efforts
to deal with the crisis in our coral reefs,” said Manson, who
is co-chair of the United States Coral Reef Task Force. “We
have made significant progress in recent years but there is much
to be done. We need a global effort to study and reverse the threats
to these sensitive ecosystems.”

Coral reefs are storehouses of immense biological value that
provide an estimated $375 billion each year to the world
economy from recreation, tourism, food, pharmaceuticals,
and other purposes. The benefits to Florida, for example,
exceed $3 billion.

Coral reefs also protect our coastlines from storm damage and
prevent erosion, a benefit for Floridians and coastal communities
in the Pacific during hurricanes and typhoons. They also
provide shelter and food for as many as 10 million animals
and plants and are the oldest and largest structures made
by living organisms on the planet. The same factors that
make them so important make them vulnerable to over exploitation.

Five agencies within the Interior Department are working on the
ground and underwater to monitor the health of coral reefs and
enhance their protection. Much of the work is done collaboratively
with local communities, state and territorial government agencies
and academia to address threats to coral reef ecosystems.

National
Park Service: In Florida, the National Park Service manages
more than 800,000 acres of coral reefs and marine habitats in three
National Parks. Biscayne National Park near Miami has joined forces
with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to develop
a joint Fisheries Management Plan that transcends boundaries to restore
fish populations across the Park and state-managed areas. The National
Park Service also put regulations in place to protect the new Virgin
Islands Coral Reef National Monument and the expanded Buck Island
Reef National Monument from anchoring and overfishing.

U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service: National Wildlife Refuges protect
approximately three million acres of coral reefs in Florida, the
Caribbean, Hawaii and the Pacific. In addition, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service has sponsored local watershed protection projects
in the Pacific islands that reduce land-based sources of pollution
to coral reefs, has provided funding to restore habitat for sea turtles
and other endangered species, and developed a mitigation strategy
that will help federal agencies restore U.S. coral reef resources
affected by federally funded coastal construction projects.

U.S. Geological Survey: The USGS is conducting vital research to
increase understanding of how coral reefs respond to threats such
as sediment pollution, water quality impacts, coral diseases and
global climate change. The USGS is determining causes of high levels
of sedimentation on reefs in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. USGS
scientists also are investigating the effects of global climate change
on corals, including the ability of corals to resist increases in
sea surface temperatures and intense ultraviolet radiation in the
National Park of American Samoa.

Office of Insular Affairs: The Office of Insular Affairs provides
technical and financial assistance to support management and protection
of coral reefs in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Pacific islands
of Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands, where the majority of reefs under U.S. jurisdiction are
located.

Minerals Management Service: Since the early 1970s, MMS has supported
a comprehensive program of mapping, monitoring and protection for
coral reefs of the East and West Flower Garden Banks, a National
Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico. MMS used the information
to develop lease stipulations for gas and oil exploration, development,
and production near the Sanctuary that have been completely effective
in preventing environmental impacts.

The U.S. Coral Reef Task
Force was established by Presidential Executive Order in 1998 to
focus federal, state, and territorial efforts on the major threats
to the nation’s coral reefs, and finding
ways to stem those threats. Craig Manson, Assistant Secretary for
Fish, Wildlife and Parks, co-chairs the Task Force on behalf of Interior
Secretary Gale Norton, along with Tim Keeney, Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Oceans and Atmosphere at the Department of Commerce.

Americans can learn more about the importance of coral reefs
to products that they value in their lives. The next time
you purchase salt water fish for your aquarium, buy grouper
or yellowfin tuna for dinner, or purchase a coral necklace
for a loved one, think about where these resources originated.
Buy products that were harvested in a responsible manner.
Learn about coral reef products that are protected by international
trade laws and don’t bring those products back into the U.S.
from your vacation.

Visit the Coral Reef Task Force website at http://www.coralreef.gov.
Or attend the public meeting at the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami
on December 2 and 3.